Global affairs group earns charter

New organization plans to bring world issues to Hamden

Some Quinnipiac students are expanding the “community” so sought after on campus, by creating a new student organization. The newly developed Global Affairs Association intends to broaden the horizons of student’s knowledge.

The Student Government Association recently awarded a charter to GAA. The group plans to use their SGA recognition to organize more events on campus, GAA Vice President of Internal Relations Alaina Caliendo said.

“GAA is for people who are passionate about global affairs such as human rights,” junior member Julia Meli said. “During meetings we have the opportunity to discuss current issues effecting the world. I joined because I am very interested in human rights and other global issues.”

The organization hopes to bring representatives of Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International, a group aimed at protecting torture survivors, to campus.

“I interned at TASSC International with the torture survivors so I would really like to get GAA involved with this,” Caliendo said. “It’s important to know about this and how it encompasses a lot of daily activities around the globe.”

After attending the Harvard National Model UN Conference last February, a handful of students decided to share their experience with fellow students and came up with the idea to form the Global Affairs Association.

While Model UN does play a large role in GAA, it is not the sole focus. The purpose of GAA is to involve those students who could not spend time at the convention through campus activities, Caliendo said.

Members hope to incorporate a plethora of majors into the organization.

“We want to share these experiences with the QU community because we know that it would greatly benefit the school, and because all the major schools such as Ivy Leagues have similar organizations,” sophomore GAA Vice President of Communications John Massa said. “Quinnipiac University is now a major university not only within Connecticut but the nation, so we know that we have to have this organization to signify the growth of Quinnipiac University.”